Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh. Photo: Manvender Vashist/PTI
New policy change is an example of convergence of MGNREGA with other development schemes, says Jairam Ramesh
New Delhi:
India will build government creches through the rural job-guarantee scheme, the rural development ministry said on Wednesday.
These child and mother care centres, known as anganwadi, will also host meetings of women’s self-help groups established under the National Rural Livelihoods Mission, the ministry said in a statement.
“This new policy change is not only an example of effective convergence of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act with other development schemes, but also of a permanent long-term community asset being created under it,” rural development minister Jairam Ramesh said in the statement.
Including the construction of anganwadi buildings under the rural employment scheme follows Ramesh unveiling a new version of India’s flagship welfare programme in May, which now allows 30 types of work such as flood management, agriculture, livestock, fisheries and sanitation.
The employment scheme, under which 100 days of work a year is available to all poor rural households, seeks to create durable assets such as roads, buildings and irrigation facilities. The programme covers the entire country and, in 2010-11, provided employment to 54.9 million families.
There are about 1.3 million anganwadi centres in India, of which less than 50% have their own buildings, government data shows.
The administration has recently approved a new scheme for the ministry of women and child development to build nearly 200,000 anganwadi centres in the next 4-5 years at a total cost of aboutRs.6,851 crore, according to the statement of the rural development ministry.
By converging funds of the women and child development ministry to provide additional material component, an additional 100,000 to 150,000 anganwadi centres could be built through the jobs scheme, the statement said.
India aims to have one anganwadi centre for every 800 people across the country, but the threshold is lowered for hilly and sparsely populated regions.
source: http://www.livemint.com / Home /by Elizabeth Roche / Wednesday, October 31st, 2012